1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to the automatic prioritization of available wireless communication mediums in a wireless communication device facilitated by an external server.
2. Description of Prior Art
A wireless communication device (WCD) may communicate over a multitude of networks. Cellular networks facilitate WCD communications over large geographic areas. For example, the Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) is a widely employed cellular network that communicates in the 900 MHZ-1.8 GHZ band in Europe and at 1.9 GHZ in the United States. This system provides a multitude of features including audio (voice), video and textual data communication. For example, the transmission of textual data may be achieved via the Short Messaging Service (SMS). SMS allows a WCD to transmit and receive text messages of up to 160 characters. It also provides data transfer to packet networks, ISDN and POTS users at 9.6 Kbps. While cellular networks like GSM provide a global means for transmitting and receiving data, due to cost, traffic and legislative concerns, a cellular network may not be appropriate for all data applications.
Bluetooth™ is a short-range wireless network technology quickly gaining acceptance in the marketplace. A Bluetooth™ enabled WCD may transmit and receive data at a rate of 720 Kbps within a range of 10 meters, and may transmit up to 100 meters with additional power boosting. A user does not manually instigate a Bluetooth™ wireless network. A plurality of devices within operating range of each other will automatically form a network group called a “piconet”. Any device may promote itself to the master of the piconet, allowing it to control data exchanges with up to seven “active” slaves and 255 “parked” slaves. Active slaves exchange data based on the clock timing of the master. Parked slaves monitor a beacon signal in order to stay synchronized with the master, and wait for an active slot to become available. These devices continually switch between various active communication and power saving modes in order to transmit data to other members of the piconet.
More recently, manufacturers have began to incorporate various devices for providing enhanced functionality in a WCD (e.g., components and software for performing close-proximity wireless information exchanges). Sensors and/or scanners may be used to read visual or electronic information into a device. A transaction may involve a user holding their WCD in proximity to a target, aiming their WCD at an object (e.g., to take a picture) or sweeping the device over a tag or document. Machine-readable technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), Infra-red (IR) communication, optical character recognition (OCR) and various other types of visual, electronic and magnetic scanning are used to quickly input desired information into the WCD without the need for manual entry by a user.
Worldwide, the use of WCDs has flourished due to the aforementioned increases in quality and functionality. These devices combine the ability to reliably receive, display, manipulate and relay various forms of information in a single compact package. These benefits have helped professionals create new business paradigms providing better and faster service, resulting in increased satisfaction for their customers without experiencing additional workload.
There are many examples of improvements in the workplace realized from the advent of wireless communications. At the lowest level, WCDs often replace walkie-talkies or CB radios for communication between employees. However, greater functionality in WCDs has led to additional applications. Workers may now use a WCD to review their calendar electronically, check product stock and/or current pricing, check project status, send email, receive visual or audio instructions related to job completion, track their progress by scanning job site tags or by taking digital pictures of their progress, relay status information back to a central information repository, etc. All of this can be done from one portable device, alleviating the need for inefficient paper handing.
While having business related information contained conveniently in a wireless communication device may aid productivity, its benefits are diminished if the data is not regularly updated. New applications, emails, meetings, announcements, instructions, price lists or other business related information must be current to be useful. Traditionally this information was synchronized with an external source when a user placed a device such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) in wired communication with a computer (e.g., via a cable or device dock). As the technology developed, IR and/or RF communication allowed for wireless short-range manual synchronization. Finally, global wireless information providers such as cellular communication were employed to continually update a wireless communication device.
Despite these advances, problems still exist in the art. Cellular communication does allow for continuous Internet and/or remote WAN connections, however, there is also considerable expense and complexity involved in this architecture. Airtime charges from national cellular service providers and various governmental regulations have burdened this system with a large overhead cost. There is also the question of which cellular provider/technology to adopt, limiting the ability for a company to alter their strategy at a later time due to the expense of replacing contracts, equipment, etc.
Alternatively, short-range communication systems allow for flexible and cost-effective communication in publicly available frequencies. A company could establish short-range access points (e.g., employing Bluetooth™ or WLAN) providing coverage throughout their office building. An employee entering the building may have their device automatically connect to a wireless office network in order to update relevant information. Ideally, this would work fine at a small company with only one location and stable technology, but the problems multiply with the size of a business. A larger corporation might have many locations, all possibly employing different short range technologies at various revision levels. A WCD scanning for every possible short range communication configuration would quickly deplete its battery power, rendering the device useless. Traffic, security and configuration issues would necessitate the manual WCD configuration by the user, negating the benefits of the system.
What is needed is a technology that assists a wireless communication device to determine the appropriate short-range technology with which to communicate, without having the device continually search for all active networks. Upon entering an area including wireless information access points, the WCD should be informed what networks are available, and in what order it should attempt to connect to these networks so as to maximize its communication throughput while conserving battery power.